A little schooner called the "Competitor" attempted to land a filibustering expedition. She was captured, after most of her passengers had been landed, and her crew, numbering five, were tried by a court which had been instructed to convict them, and sentenced to death. They would undoubtedly have been executed, as some years before had been the prisoners of the ill-fated Virginius, had it not been for the prompt intervention of the United States, spurred thereto by General Fitz Hugh Lee. The conviction was growing stronger and stronger in the United States that something should be done to mitigate the terrible suffering in Cuba. The Red Cross Association, a splendid charitable organization, at the head of which was Miss Clara Barton, undertook this noble work of relief. The government of the United States lent its assistance and support. Large sums of money and tons of supplies of food were contributed throughout the Union, both by public and private donations. The newspapers everywhere, North, East, South and West, did magnificent service in furthering the good work. Spain, instead of showing gratitude, rather resented this, and there was considerable difficulty to prosecute the labor of charity. Still, the efforts, in the interests of suffering humanity were by no means unavailing. President McKinley speaks of the movement as follows: "The success which had attended the limited measure of relief extended to the suffering American citizens of Cuba, by the judicious expenditure through consular agencies, of money appropriated expressly for their succor by the joint resolution approved May 24, 1897, prompted the humane extension of a similar scheme of aid to the great body of sufferers. A suggestion to this end was aquiesced in by the Spanish authorities. On the twenty-fourth of December last, I caused to be issued an appeal to the American people, inviting contributions, in money or in kind, for the starving sufferers in Cuba, following this on the eighth of January by a similar public announcement of the formation of a Central Cuban Relief Committee, with headquarters in New York city, composed of three members representing the American National Red Cross Society, and the religious and business elements of the community. The efforts of that committee have been untiring and have accomplished much. Arrangements for free transportation to Cuba have greatly aided the charitable work. The president of the American Red Cross and representatives of other contributory organizations have generously visited Cuba and co-operated with the consul-general and the local authorities to make effective disposition of the relief collected through the efforts of the Central Committee. Nearly $200,000 in money and supplies has already reached the sufferers and more is forthcoming. The supplies are admitted duty free, and transportation to the interior has been arranged, so that the relief, at first necessarily confined to